Our starting point

In our first two years, we collected baseline data on the farm’s wildlife in order to see the effects of our experimental techniques.

Baseline monitoring

Knowing what we started with at Hope Farm allows us to see how our experimental techniques have affected the farm’s wildlife populations.

We found low numbers of once-common, but still widespread, species such as skylarks, linnets and yellowhammers at the farm.

Improving the habitat for birds is a priority, but we also hope that the changes we make will benefit other species. In many cases, helping one species means helping another. For example, increased numbers of insects means more food for insectivorous birds. Our monitoring programme includes butterflies, bumblebees, moths, hares and a variety of other groups.